A day after wrapping up fourth-place and home field advantage to start the MLS playoffs, Toronto FC players were given the equivalent of exploding cigars from the league.

On Monday morning, Major League Soccer announced that TFC and D.C. United would open the playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 19 at BMO Field — at 12 noon.

Not exactly prime time. And not a optimal time for the players or Toronto fans. Essentially the time slot was a kick in the chops.

MLS’ playoff schedule was released just hours after a number of TFC players said, following their 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on Sunday, how great it is to play post-season games at BMO Field under the lights. TFC president Bill Manning certainly wasn’t thrilled when he said the playoff schedule and the 12 p.m. time slot.

“I was like, ‘Oh, boy. That’s a tough one,’” Manning said.

The Prez decided that he was going to do whatever he could to change it up.

“I shot a text to Gary Stevenson (president and managing director of MLS business ventures) and I said, ‘Hey, tough time slot.’ And he called me right away and said, ‘If I could get TSN on board and we can find another window, what could work for you?’ And I said, ‘Look, I’d like to play in the evening. I think it’s better for our fans, I think it’s better for our players.’ And he called me back later in the day and he said, ‘We got you 6 o’clock. How does that work?’ And I said, ‘Great.’

“I think the players like it better, they like playing in the evening underneath the lights,” Manning added. “It gives them a day to prepare themselves mentally. And I think our fans like it better too, because they get to do what they do during the day and then they come out and make an evening of it.

“I think it’s going to be a great crowd and hopefully our guys come out and can put on a really good performance and get us to the next round. Under the lights at BMO Field, we’ve had a lot of great nights there.”

Manning, of course, was pumped when his team wrapped up home-field advantage with the win over Columbus on Sunday night, certainly a change from his thoughts mid-way through the year when, following an eight-game winless streak, he suggested that TFC coach Greg Vanney — who guided the Reds to the domestic treble in 2017 — was on the clock.

Vanney preached patience all year, insisting that once he gets back all his players from injury and international duty, and the three new TAM signings (Omar Gonzalez, Nicolas Benezet and Erickson Gallardo) jell with the team, TFC would go on a run.

And they did, finishing the regular season on a 10-game unbeaten streak.

“Greg really found 12-13 guys that he really relied on down the stretch and we became a very, very difficult team to beat,” Manning said. “(We’re) a team that can go win a championship. There’s a number of guys who have been with us that know what it takes to win a championship and really proud of the way the guys bounced back from what was a tough, mid-season stretch.

“We always had the talent, but we didn’t have the depth that we have now,” he added. “Now we’re a team that can have 18-19 players that can go out and give coach a lot of options and different looks.”

D.C. United and TFC finished the season with identical 13-10-11 records, but the Reds nabbed fourth-place and home-field advantage based on goal differential.

But Manning knows any team that has a certain Manchester United legend on the roster is always dangerous.

“Wayne Rooney is amazing,” Manning said. “I think he’s been incredible for this league. Certainly someone you can never taken an eye off of. He can change a game in a moment. They’ve got a really good coach in Ben Olsen.

“You know when you play D.C. United you’re going to be in a dog fight. They have another good player in (Luciano) Acosta. They’ve got a good goalkeeper (Bill Hamid). It’s going to be a tough game.”

The winner will advance to play New York City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Oct. 23.

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